Asus announces the 'world's fastest WiFi router'

At the trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances in Berlin (IFA), networking manufacturer Asus showed off its latest extraterrestrial router - the RT-AC5300.

Behind the router's aggressive design are hidden three frequency bands. Asus claims that the device can achieve a total of to 5.3Gbps wireless speeds. It provides 1Gbps connections over 2.4GHz and up to 2.16Gbps on two separate 5GHz bands. With these "promised" speeds, this router turns out to be 67 percent faster than first-gen, tri-band routers. It has eight removable dual-band antennas to deliver "ultra-wide area coverage".

The router also has a gigabit WAN port, and four gigabit LAN ports on the back. A USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port, allow connection with shared printers and storage. Those ports can also be used to plug in a 3G/4G modem for cellular backup should your home internet connection go down.

The RT-AC5300 will support all existing Wi-Fi clients, including those using the obsolete 802.11b standard. To get the most benefit from it, however, the clients need to support 802.11ac and better yet the same performance tier that the router has.

Currently, the router is just announced and its price isn't confirmed yet, but it is supposed to be released later this year for around $400.